Doubt
by Diabolus-in-Harmonia
Summary: Ghetsis is given reason to doubt the success of his plans for pokémon liberation. Focuses on a Ghetsis of ambiguous age(perhaps somewhere in his thirties), pre-BW1, being younger and much less insane than his BW1 onwards counterpart. There's also Hydreigon, and such.


Ghetsis realised he would probably need to grow thicker skin fast if a plan like his was ever going to work, but as things were he just couldn't stand such callous criticism of the ideas he'd put so much thought into. He had a feeling he and Rood were not going to get on if the man continued to oppose his methods for implementing 'pokémon liberation', as they called it. _Honestly_. Of course the general public would be swayed – Ghetsis knew he could be extremely convincing when he wanted to be…hell, he'd managed to get Rood on board in the first place, hadn't he? The old fool didn't know what he was talking about…they wouldn't need any convincing…would they?

The green-haired man shook his head, wringing his hands nervously as he stared unseeingly out of the large window in his apartment. _Ugh_. He hated it so when seeds of doubt were so easily sown into his mind – he wasn't a child any more, dealing with scornful bullies(whether they come in the form of other children or his own father). Ghetsis felt he should be more able to brush off Rood's words, but now that his plan to…better Unova was finally starting to come together, he found himself fretting more and more about failure. He'd spent so much time denying claims that he'd never amount to anything – if this failed, and he proved all of his(mostly deceased) dissenters correct…

Hydreigon derailed his train of thought just as it delved into the usual darker territory by nudging his shoulder with its head, timely as always. Ghetsis couldn't suppress a small smile at the brutal pokémon's gentleness, petting the dragon's incredibly soft black fur.

"You're not going to let me screw this up, are you?" He murmured, showering his oldest friend with as much affection as he dared right in front of his window, where it was theoretically possible for someone to see him. If he wanted to convince people to release their pokémon for the betterment of both species, Ghetsis reasoned it may be better for the general public not to be aware of his bias toward pokémon.

Hydreigon growled its affirmation, and bit down on a large tuft of Ghetsis' long hair with one of its brainless heads, quick as a flash. Ghetsis huffed, and tugged at the trapped hair, rolling his eyes at the dragon's playfulness.

"You know this game is unfair, Hydreigon. I'm not fast enough to evade the likes of you," he said, grimacing slightly as Hydreigon relinquished his now drool-damp hair, "now run along – you're interrupting my unnecessary brooding, can't you see?"

The dragon snorted, performing its best approximation of a tut before following its trainers command and flying elsewhere in the spacious apartment, careful not to break everything with its six wings. As good as Hydreigon was at distracting him from his woes, Ghetsis realised this issue was unlikely to leave his mind so soon, and would prefer to obsess over it sooner than later.

Rood had called it arrogant, his assumption that the average person would completely change their mind about the way society views pokémon from his words alone, but Ghetsis couldn't think of any other way they could convey their message, or make it seem more authentic. It wasn't as if he could actually speak to pokémon, and have them confirm to the people that human control over pokémon more often than not limited their potential and stifled their happiness…

Ghetsis huffed, and turned sharply away from the window, unable to stifle his ever-present urge to make his clothes flair out behind him. He'd have to think on it more in a short while - as overly concerned with success as he was, his immediate desire to wash the dragon saliva out of his hair was distracting him too much. He smirked as he made his way to his washroom. Cleanliness first, showing up Rood – and every other fool who'd ever doubted him - later.


End file.
